Yet what they both have in common, Rush believes, is the hurdles he discovered in trading the spotlight here for Serie A.

Rush said: “It took me six months to settle in at Juventus but if you look at football today everyone wants instant success. You have to give players time.

“I want to see him do well at Madrid. I just think he’ll need a few games to get into it.

“The most important thing about making the move abroad is being happy off the pitch. If you’re not happy off the pitch you won’t perform on it.

“Also you have to learn the language. That will definitely be needed in the dressing room. It took me six months to learn that. When you’re a player you think the football is all that matters.

“But small things like not knowing the language do affect your performance on the pitch. I know a lot of people say that football is a universal language and to an extent it is true.

“But you need big-game training and that’s what its all about. “One of the positives I’ve seen so far was that Gareth had all of his family out there and that will be important because on the media side the attention will be constant.

Witness the fitness: Bale needs to get back to full speed to succeed in Madrid (Image: Getty)

“Also the player liaison officer will do everything they can to help - get him the best house and everything he needs to ensure that he is comfortable.

“But there will still be things he may have to do for himself.

“Basic things like opening his own bank account. You have to learn the language to do that. When I was a player you had to do that yourself. Maybe Gareth might not. But there will be things off the pitch he will need the language for.

“By themselves they are not big issues but they soon become loads of little ones and they snowball into one big issue if you are not performing on the pitch.”

Rush will join the millions here following his countryman’s progress as Bale bids to bed into arguably the most political dressing room in world football.

The winger is set to make his debut away to Villareal this weekend.

But noises have already begun emerging from the Madrid dressing room from senior players alarmed at the sale of midfielder Mesut Ozil to make way for Bale’s arrival.

Rush added: “There’s only one way to deal with that. Perform on the pitch.

“Looking back at my time at Juventus, when we were winning, it was great. But when you’re losing it all falls on one person.

“When we lost at Juve it was ‘Rushie’s Juventus’ that had lost. It wasn’t Juventus. I had maybe one person, Michael Laudrup, who helped me.

“It was harsh because I was giving 100 per cent every time.

“At Liverpool the emphasis has always been on the team game. But at Juventus it was individuals. That was the difference.

Italian job: Ian Rush learned the hard way in Juventus (Image: Getty)

“If I was Gareth now I’d go and tell them that I was the best player in the world - because that’s what they want to hear.

“If you said that at Liverpool you’d get absolutely hammered. Its a team game. But that’s difference in footballing culture.

“When I went to Italy I was stressing the importance of the team but they wanted me to talk myself up and I would never do that. They like to be positive in that way but, coming from Liverpool, it was difficult for me to do.

“You have to prove your worth on the pitch though. If you’re winning there won’t be a problem.

“The bigger issue with Gareth is his fitness. He hasn’t played for a bit and you do need your at least four games to get match fitness.

“You can make mistakes playing for Wales and get away with it. You won’t get away with it playing for Madrid.

“My other worry is whether the media in Spain give him that time. I hope that they do because he is a fantastic player and he needs to get that match fitness to show his true ability.”